http://www.johnkerry.com/2007/7/26/kerry-challenges-bush-republican-allies-to-stop-obstructionism.........On issue after issue, these Republicans chose to filibuster — and to do so just two short years after they declared the filibuster — as then-Majority Leader Bill Frist said in late 2004 — “nothing less than the tyranny of the minority.”
After expressing outrage at the mere hint of a Democratic filibuster last session, Republicans have suddenly become the principled champions of minority rights here in the Senate. After threatening “the nuclear option” when Democrats stood up to defend the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — they’ve introduced the filibuster to stop everyday business in the Senate. The rubber-stamp Republicans have now become the Roadblock Republicans.
The party of Abraham Lincoln has become the party of red tape — vetoes, filibusters, any means necessary to deny the will of the majority of the Senate and the vast majority of the American people.
And if you don’t believe me? Just ask Republican leadership. In April, Trent Lott, the Minority Whip, told a reporter, “the strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail… and so far it’s working for us.”
I think the Senator is asking the wrong question. The question isn’t “Is it working for Republicans” or “Is it working for Democrats?” We all ought to be asking: “Is it working for the American people?”